Terri Sindelar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
May 4, 1994
(Phone: 202/358-1977)
RELEASE: 94-70
NASA SSIP WINNERS HONORED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Twenty-four students from public and private schools across the
U.S. have won national recognition in NASA's 14th annual Space
Science Student Involvement Program (SSIP) competition. The
students will be honored along with their teachers at the National
Space Symposium, May 7-11, at the Hotel Washington, 515 15th St.,
N.W., Washington, D.C.
The competition, co-sponsored by NASA and the National Science
Teachers Association, is an interdisciplinary program designed to
address the need for greater literacy in the areas of science,
critical and creative thinking, mathematics and technology. Over
4,000 students in elementary, junior high, and high school
competed in five competition categories using their skills in
mathematics, science, technology, art and creative writing.
The National Space Science Symposium brings together the 24
national SSIP winners and their teachers for the purpose of
recognizing their academic achievement in an environment designed
to further challenge their talents. The trip to the symposium
includes formal presentations by the students of their entries.
In addition to their recognition in Washington, the students
will have the opportunity to intern at a NASA field center for a
week during the summer and will receive a Space Camp scholarship.
Winners of the Interplanetary Art competition will have their
artwork displayed in museums, schools and other public sites
throughout the year.
Schedule
On Monday, May 9, at 1:30 p.m., eight national high school
student winners will present proposals for a Mars Science
Experiment Project to a panel of scientists. The students will
compete for a trip with their teacher/advisor to a NASA Center for
an educational learning experience.
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On Tuesday, May 10, students will tour the Capitol and meet
their members of Congress.
At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the students and their teachers will
be honored at a banquet at the Hotel Washington. The banquet
speaker will be Dr. Mary Cleave, a former astronaut who is
currently the Project Manager of SeaWiFs at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Competitions and Winners
Mars Science Expedition
Students in grades 9 to 12 planned and developed a trip to Mars
and proposed an experiment to be conducted along the way.
Students were required to follow the guidelines of the scientific
method when designing the study. The following students will
compete on May 9, at 1:30 p.m.:
o Raffi Krikorian, Clarkstown H.S. South, West Nyack, N.Y.
o James Schaefer, Glenbrook North H.S., Northbrook, Ill.
o Stephen Whyte, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, Va.
o Ryan Hall, Trinity Prep School, Winter Park, Fla.
o Tim Brister, Springtown H.S., Springtown, Texas
o Anabelle Duldulao, Waipahu H. S., Waipahu, Hawaii
o Julia Scozzafava, Laramie Senior H.S., Laramie, Wyo.
o Matthew Horner, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, Md.
The judges for the presentations will be Alphonso V. Diaz,
Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Space Science;
Elizabeth E. Beyer, Manager of Operational Programs, NASA's Solar
System Exploration Division; and Dr. Michael A. Meyer of NASA's
Solar System Division.
Interplanetary Art Competition
Students in grades 3 to 12 expressed their talents in science
and art by creating a two-dimensional illustration depicting a
scene from interplanetary space and writing an essay describing
the picture. The art work will be displayed for public viewing.
o Katie Bilharz, Mott Road Elementary School, Fayetteville, N.Y.
o Josh Small, Creston Jr. H.S., Indianapolis, Ind.
o Donna Winder, Wilmington Christian School, Hockessin, Del.
Future Aircraft/Spacecraft Design Competition
Students in grades 3 to 5 worked in teams to design a
futuristic aircraft or spacecraft. The students created three
illustrations and wrote an essay describing the spacecraft.
o Chelsea Stertz, Sara Habib, Amy Nyberg and Todd Peterson,
Corbett Elementary School, Tucson, Arizona.
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Mission To Planet Earth
Students in grades 6 to 8, worked in three person teams to
create an interdisciplinary project using satellites to study the
effects of human activity on the Earth's ecosystem. They use
research methods and an understanding of technology to search for
solutions to society's ecological problems.
o Eli Alper, Michael Kiser and William Trimble, Trinity Prep,
Winter Park, Fla.
Aerospace Internship Competitions
Students in grades 9 to 12 competed for a one-week internship
with their teacher/advisor at a NASA facility. Students were
chosen on the basis of a written proposal of an experiment that
could theoretically be performed at one of the facilities such as
NASA's supercomputer, drop tube, wind tunnel, Space Station or
Spacelab.
Supercomputer Internship
o Daniel Gould, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, Md., will
intern at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., with
scientists and engineers working on the Cray Computer.
Space Station Internship
o Wendy Kaneshiro, Waipahu H.S., Waipahu, Hawaii, will intern at
the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, with scientists and
engineers working on the Space Station.
Wind Tunnel Internship
o Thomas Sapienza, Shoreham-Wading River H.S., Shoreham, N.Y.,
will intern at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., with
scientists and engineers conducting research in aerodynamics using
wind tunnels.
Drop Tube Internship
o Garrett Bach, Centennial H.S., Meridian, Idaho, will intern at
NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, with scientists
performing microgravity experiments in a drop tube.
SpaceLab Internship
o Athene Hodges, Montgomery Blair H.S., Silver Spring, Md., will
intern at NASA's Marshal Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.,
conducting experiments with scientists and engineers in the
pressurized Spacelab module.
Space Astronomy Internship
o Christopher Del Rosso, Comsewoque H.S., Port Jefferson Station,
N.Y., will intern at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., and work with astronomers conducting research in
observational and theoretical astronomy and solar physics.
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